Chief Dania

A Lagos based lawyer, Chief Abdullia Tony Dania, has asked his tenants in Lagos and Edo States not to pay any rent to his or his agents for the period of three months, starting from 1st of April to 1st of July 2020, as his contribution for alleviation of sufferings brought on the general populace by the coronavirus pandemic.

The legal practitioner who said this in a statement on Friday also pleaded with the Federal and Lagos State Government to urgently come up with palliatives to help the vulnerable segment of the populace who have been asked to stay back at home as part of measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

“I want to start with myself and assist within the limits of my ability. All my tenants at Apapa, Jakande Estate,  Oke Afa, Isolo and at Solape in Ejigbo, all in Lagos State, and those in South Ibie Iyakpi, in Etsako West, Edo state, have been and are hereby requested not to pay any rent to me or my Agent, for 3 months, starting from 1st of April – 1st of July 2020,” the legal practitioner said in the statement.

While commending the Federal and  Lagos State government as well as medical personnel for their contributions and efforts  to tackle the coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria, Chief Dania also hailed the business sector for the billions already donated to aid the fight against the deadly disease.

He, however, made other recommendations on the palliatives that can be given as succor, especially to help Nigerians cope with lockdown order declared by government  from the public and private sectors.

The lawyer said the succour can be in form granting of waivers of rents, suspension of the payment of interest on loans, payment for services,  cable TV, datas, electricity bills, internet services and others for 3 Months, starting from 1st of  April 2020 and terminating on the 1st of July 2020.

Chief Dania also asked government at the federal and state levels to fine-tune the process of distribution of their ongoing palliatives for the citizens

“While implementing the above, I urge the FGN to re-organize the supplies of foods or cash to indigent citizens and residents, because the current arrangement where people come to designated centers is encouraging crowded gatherings with its attendant risks of the spread of coro, the lawyer said while urging the government to use community, religious leaders, trade and town unions to distribute palliatives for the citizens and also to convince people to obey its stay at home order.

“You would have used them to convince the populace to voluntarily comply with all the restrictive directives and recommended safety measures. The riots in Katsina during the last Jumat and in Warri could have been avoided. They can also be used to distribute foods and other items to indigent persons among them.

“The use of force, as it is currently been done or violent assaults against violators of the restrictive order, might cause avoidable communual reaction, as it happened in Warri. Most Nigerians are hungry and angry, whereas, those aforementioned persons could have easily reached their neighbours to educate and persuade them. There would have been an almost 100% compliance.

The lawyer also asked the Federal Government to further reduce the price of petrol to make the product affordable for people, especially for powering of their generators in view of ongoing poor power supply from distribution companies across the country.

“The FGN should reduce the price to N75 P/L of petrol for just 30 days, 1st of April to 1st of May; let petrol sell for 75k P/litre and restore it back to the normal price after 30 days. Do this and you shall know by popular reactions, how appreciative Nigerians can be.

“The fight against coro is a battle we must win, by the grace of God”, Chief Dania added.